Tread Gently
by JailQueen
Summary: The Doctor and Donna meet a strange lonely traveller in the deserts of Mars.


**Tread Gently**

By JailQueen

Author's note: Doctor Who is not mine, but the desert and the dying city is. They are both parts of a non-fanfic story of mine. The creature is inspired by William Yeats' poem: The Second Coming.

xXx

When you walk through the dying city there are three things you must remember.

Tread gently.

Be polite to memories.

And above all: Do not brake what is already broken.

The Doctor put on his sunglasses and exited the TARDIS into the red desert. He had once again set the TARDIS at random and allowed it to take him wherever it wanted him to go. It had brought them to Mars and the endless desert of Barûk Pasir. The time was three years before the sun exploded. There were no weeds, rocks or shadows in the sand. The only sign of life were a set of paw prints belonging to something which seemed to be moving round and round in a great circle.

"Huh, is it meant to be this hot?"

Donna said pushing herself passed him wearing a large floppy sunhat and a pair of sunglasses she'd found somewhere in the depths of the Doctor's wardroom.

"The inherent and often perpetual quality of a desert, Donna, is to be hot. If it were cold I daresay it was not technically a desert. Except for Antarctica. And some other places."

"You're babbling." Donna stared at him and added with a note of exasperation, "Why are we here. There's not even a beach!"

The Doctor did not answer but instead bent down to examine the only signs of life they could see which were a set of paw prints. Donna sighed. "What's that then?"

"Paw prints… Belonging to some big catlike creature I'd guess." He took up a pinch of sand between his fingers and brought it to his nose. "Hmm…"

"Hmm, what?" Donna was quickly getting bored and crouched down next to him, nudging him in the shoulder.

"The sand smells strange from where it has stepped. A bit like lion mixed with human mixed with crows. Whatever creature they belong to it seems to be moving round and round the desert in a great circle."

"Well, let's leave before it comes back!"

"Oh, I'm afraid it's too late for that."

The Doctor rose and looked into the west and Donna followed suit. She could see a dark shape approaching over the dunes, but the Doctor could see so much more. He saw an ancient creature born out of memories and myths. It cast a shadow of a thousand birds and a deep frown lingered on its brow for it knew its journey was long. It walked with pride on its four short legs and its mane danced in the wind. Its cold eyes found the Doctor's and it smiled for it knew it was facing something from its perspective new but wise. It stopped a few feet in front of them and sat down.

"Doctor, is that a lion with a human face? And if it is, then how!"

The Doctor tilted his head at her and muttered, "Come now, Donna be polite." There was a hint of a warning in the Doctor's voice and Donna begrudgingly fell silent. The Doctor turned back towards the creature but before he could speak, it did.

"Do you remember my name?" Its voice was dryer than the sand beneath their feet and its question rang like lullaby half forgotten. "I have travelled this desert since…the beginning. So many long years… I have walked for so many years."

The Doctor took a few tentative steps forward and then knelt down to look into its face. Eyes old and pitiless as the sun met his.

"Who are you my friend? I don't think I have ever had the pleasure of meeting anyone quite like you before." The Doctor smiled benevolently but the creature's frown merely deepened.

"Do you remember my name?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't. I'm the Doctor and this is Donna," he pointed at Donna who was edging closer to stand behind him, a safe distance from the lionman. "She is my friend and we travel together though time and space in the…"

"TARDIS…" The creature finished for him while looking over at the little blue box.

"So, you've heard of the Doctor then?" Donna injected, looking uncomfortable.

"I was a librarian. Storyteller… I was so many things. Until memory failed me and left me here to wander the outskirts of the city."

"There's a city here?" The Doctor asked, now quite curious. "The TARDIS' archives didn't mention any cities still standing."

"One city still slumbers in the heat of the desert. I pass by it every 993 years on my travels. I grow older but the city remains dying in the half shadow."

The Doctor could hear Donna moan in annoyance but asked nonetheless. "Where is it from here?"

"Go north in until the second sun sets and you'll find yourselves at the gates of Penumbra. There once was a god waiting in the city."

"Where did he go?" Donna asked somewhat bemused and forgetting to be worried.

"It was waiting to be born." Its blank gaze lingered on Donna as it shifted slightly as if uncomfortably. "Do you remember my name?"

"Why do you keep asking that?" Donna blurted out making the Doctor squirm a bit and hush her. "Don't hush me, spaceboy!"

"I once had all the stories in existence and now I have none. Memory left me behind and now I must find it again before death, or even worse, change finds me."

"Change can't be worse than death. To start over is a good thing." But while he spoke the Doctor knew that what he was saying was untrue. How many times had not he wished to simply lay down his head and be lulled to sleep by the rocking cradle of certainty, instead of the eternal gamble and fighting that was life? To rest and be free of all uncertainties and doubts is indeed a blessing to the tired mind. To those who are complete or too broken to fix. But that was not him. Not yet. He still saw the colours, the music and the beauty of this world. There was still too much to see, too much too do for the Doctor to lie down and rest.

"Do you remember my name?"

The creature rose and continued its journey into the west, its tail swishing solemnly and in its wake followed by the shadows of a thousand crows.

"If I do I'll come and find you."

The Doctor's promise fell on deaf ears for the shadows ate the words and no memory of them remained to be forgotten. A journey once started must be completed.

The moment it had spoken the deepest waves of guilt flooded them and Donna dropped to her knees. The Doctor's hand dug into her shoulder and she could feel cold tears run down her cheeks. She didn't know why but it felt like everyone and everything in the world had forgotten her. Standing at the precipice of oblivion the Doctor spoke her name and the illusion broke.


End file.
